By GEORGE MORSE
Sports And Outdoors
Los Alamos Daily Post

This time of year  the best fishing is usually found in the lakes and reservoirs. Trout will be cruising the warmer, shallow water sometimes surprisingly close to the bank 

Stream flows decreased or stayed relatively stable  in the smaller streams of Northern New Mexico this past week. It is a little early  but runoff may have peaked already. The streamflow levels dropped in the Pecos River and Jemez River. The streamflow in the upper Chama River above El Vado Lake and the Brazos River actually saw a significant increase.  

Brazos Falls near Tierra Amarilla is running. Be sure to see it now because in a month it will no longer be there. 

The streamflow of the lower Chama River depends on how much water is being released below El Vado Dam and Abiquiu Dam. This also I influences the flow in the Rio Grande in Espanola. 

The Rio Grande has been running just below normal in Northern New Mexico. The snowpack in Southern Colorado was not as deep as that in Northern Colorado. 

One exception is the San Juan River. Flows here are still low thanks to low releases of water below Navajo Dam. 

This time of year it is best to check the streamflow reports on the United States Geological Survey website.

If you must fish a swollen river concentrate on the small pockets of water behind streamside boulders. Fly-fishing anglers should keep their ears out for reports of the annual caddis fly hatch in May on the Rio Grande. 

If you are wading, be careful. A dunking in the cold, strong currents of spring runoff can turn life-threatening in a hurry. 

Unless otherwise noted, all the stockings referred to in this report are with catchable-size rainbow trout.   

The Winter Stocking Program ended in March. Waters in Southern New Mexico that cannot support trout fishing during the summer will no longer be stocked with trout until October. Channel catfish will now be stocked in these waters during the summer. Tingley Beach in Albuquerque was stocked April 25 with a total of 621 catfish. 

The State Game and Fish Department stocked 23,923 small kokanee salmon in Navajo Lake April 23, bringing the total of kokanee salmon stocked In Navajo Lake to 221,649 this year. Navajo Lake has the best kokanee salmon fishing in New Mexico. 

Clayton Lake State Park and the Charette Lakes are open for fishing. The Charette Lakes  between Springer and Wagon Mound should be good for some nice, holdover trout.  They also have yellow perch. Lower Charette Lake was stocked May 14 with 1,914 rainbow trout. 

Clayton Lake is now open. Clayton Lake was stocked May 6 with 3,057 rainbow trout. I The state-record walleye was caught here. Clayton Lake is a designated trophy bass water. The limit is two largemouth bass-per day at least 14 inches or more in length. There  are also catfish here. Be sure to check out the dinosaur tracks at Clayton Lake. 

Please note that Laguna del Campo near the village of Los Ojos is now open. It was stocked May 1 with 645 rainbow trout. 

Fenton Lake State Park has  open water. It was recently-stocked with rainbow trout and has some wild brown trout. Anglers have been catching a few cutthroat trout. It was stocked April 16 with 800 Rio Grande cutthroat trout. Only two cutthroat trout may be included in the daily bag limit of five-per-day. It was stocked  May 16 with 1,445 rainbow trout. For more information and current lake conditions call 575.829.3630.  

The Rio Cebolla, which flows into and below Fenton Lake, was stocked twice last week with a total of 1,021 rainbow trout. It was stocked May 8 with 2,998 fingerling Rio Grande cutthroat trout. It also has wild brown trout. 

The Jemez River was stocked twice two weeks ago with a total of 1,699 rainbow trout. 

The upper tributaries of the Jemez River are open. Stream flows are beginning to drop here.  The Rio de las Vacas was stocked  May 16 with 428 rainbow trout. The San Antonio River was stocked May 9 with 640 rainbow trout. All the Jemez tributaries have wild brown trout. The Rio Guadalupe was stocked May 8 with 2,998 fingerling Rio Grande cutthroat trout. 

The Seven Springs Brood Pond, also known as the Kid’s Pond, is open. It is located at the Seven Springs Fish Hatchery. The fishing is for anglers 11 years of age or younger. It was stocked May 7 with 496 rainbow trout. It also has some wild brown trout and some Rio Grande cutthroat trout from an earlier stocking. The limit is three trout-per-day. 

The Bureau of Land Management manages Santa Cruz Lake Recreation Area near Chimayo. It reopened March 1. It will be open 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. It was stocked May 2 with 2,552 rainbow trout. 

For updated conditions, check the Bureau of Land Management website or call 505.351.1438. 

The Bureau also manages the Orilla Verde Recreation Area along the Rio Grande at Pilar. Camping is on a first-come basis. No reservations. The Rio Grande streamflow was 900 cubic-feet-per-second at Taos Junction Bridge. This is a little lower than last week and below normal. The Rio Grand at Pilar was stocked May 15 with 1,700 rainbow trout. The Rio Grande also has wild brown trout, some northern pike and smallmouth bass. In the Albuquerque area, there are channel catfish.                             

From the Colorado state line downstream to the Taos Junction Bridge, the limit is two-trout-per-day in the Rio Grande. The Rio Grande Gorge above Pilar was stocked May 15 with 214 catchable-size  rainbow trout. It was stocked Nov. 27 with 43,846 fingerling Rio Grande cutthroat trout 

Eagle Nest Lake has open water, fishing should be good for rainbow trout, yellow perch northern pike and an occasional kokanee salmon. It was stocked April 24 with 10,002 rainbow trout averaging 9.3 inches. 

Remember, if you catch a pike at Eagle Nest, you cannot put it back in the lake. You have to kill it. For more information and current conditions, call 575.377.1594.

The streamflow in the Cimarron River below Eagle Nest Dam was 1.24 cubic-feet-per-second. Near the town of Cimarron it was measured at 20.7 cubic -feet-per-second. It was stocked May 10 with 2,061 rainbow trout. Check the Carson National Forest website to see if campgrounds are open.

The Cimarron Gravel Pit Lakes at Maverick Campground are open. They were frozen, but may be open now. They were stoked May 10 with 501 rainbow trout. 

Lake Maloya and Lake Alice at Sugarite State Park near Raton are open. Lake Maloya was stocked May 7 with 2,633 catchable-size rainbow trout. Lake Alice now open for fishing and ice-free. It was stocked April 16 with 351 rainbow trout. Lake Maloya has open water. Call 575.445.5607 for current conditions.  

Heron Lake State Park is open now. There is open water for bank fishing, which has been fair for rainbow trout. It was stocked April 30 with 24,996 sub-catchable rainbow trout.

Call 575.588.7470 for conditions at both Heron Lake and El Vado Lake. 

El Vado Lake State Park is closed. Try fishing at the north end of the lake where the Chama River comes in. 

Storrie Lake State Park near Las Vegas is open. It was stocked May 14 with 1,523 rainbow trout. 

The fishing for bass, walleye crappie and white bass should be improving as the water warms up at Conchas Lake  State Park. 

The streamflow at Pecos Canyon State Park was measured at 237 cubic-feet-per-second. This is a little higher than last week and below normal. The fishing has been fair-to-good for rainbow trout and wild brown trout. It was stocked twice last week with a total of 2,552 rainbow trout. At Villanueva, the Pecos River was stocked May 7 with 171 rainbow trout. The streamflow at Anton Chico was the same as last week at 185 cubic-feet-per-second. This is below normal. 

The Mora Fork of the Pecos River was stocked May 6 with 341 rainbow trout. Holy Ghost Creek was stocked May 7 with 341 rainbow trout. 

The Cowles Ponds were stocked May 8 with 153 rainbow trout. 

Cow Creek was stocked May 13 with 427 rainbow trout. 

Morphy Lake State Park is now open. Fishing is good for stocked rainbow trout and some cutthroat trout.  It was stocked May 7 with 2,295 rainbow trout. 

Monastery Lake near Pecos is now open. It was stocked May 13 with 766 rainbow trout. 

Coyote Creek State Park was stocked May 14 with 679 rainbow trout. The Coyote Creek Pond was stocked with 510 rainbow trout. 

Over in the Four Corners, Navajo Lake State Park is open. Camping is by reservation only. Trolling minnow-imitating lures like Rapalas could produce a trophy brown trout. It was stocked April 22 with 19,989 sub-catchable rainbow trout. Fishing for northern pike has been fair-to-good. Bass fishing has been fair. Boating conditions are good. Navajo Lake does not freeze over. Call 505.632.2278 for conditions. 

Bluewater Lake State Park was stocked March 12 with 4,199 rainbow trout. Fishing will be good until most of these trout are caught or eaten by tiger muskies. Musky fishing may be slow.  

McGaffey Lake near Grants was stocked May 16 with 999 rainbow trout. 

Other lakes in the Four Corners area are now being stocked. Lake Farmington was stocked April 16 with 1 004 rainbow trout. Aztec Pond Number 1 was stocked May 1 with 405 rainbow trout. Tiger Park Pond in Aztec was stocked May 1 with 637 rainbow trout. 

Popular fishing locations on Carson National Forest include the Canjilon Lakes, the Trout Lakes near Cebolla and Hopewell Lake between Tres Piedras and Tierra Amarilla. They were frozen and may be inaccessible due to snow.  

Hopewell may be reached by hiking in. It now has open water. The fishing was reported to be very good for stocked rainbow trout and wild brook trout. 

The Rio de los Pinos is near the border of  Colorado north of Tres Piedras. It has not yet been stocked this year. It has wild brown trout.  

The best river in the state and well-known throughout the angling world is the San Juan River below Navajo Dam The streamflow on the San Juan was 485 cubic-feet-per-second. This is higher than last week. The San Juan offers world-class fishing for big trout. 

The fishing has been good with a variety of fly patterns in the four miles of Quality Water below the Dam. The fishing here is catch-and-release with flies and lures having a single, barbless hook. It is heavily-stocked with small rainbow trout that grow quickly in the fertile waters. It was stocked May 6 with 79,274 sub-catchable rainbow trout. There are big, wild brown trout in the Quality Water. Some of these fish would likely shatter the state record if they could be kept and weighed.  

The fishing in the Bait Water of the San Juan below the Quality Water has been fair-to-good with flies, bait and lures. A regular daily limit of five trout may be kept here. There are some big brown trout here too. It was stocked May 15 with 1,943 rainbow trout. 

Abiquiu Lake is open, including the boat ramp and picnic areas. Boat ramp may be closed periodically. Camping is open. It is managed by the Corps of Engineers. Reservations may be made at www.recreation.gov. The fishing has been slow for walleye, catfish and smallmouth bass. There are some good-sized trout in Abiquiu. Call 505.685.4371 for more information.  

The Chama River bzelow Abiquiu Dam is flowing at 1,160 cubic-feet-per-second. This is higher than last week and just above normal. The water is murky. The fishing is likely fair for stocked and holdover rainbow trout. There are a few big, wild brown trout here. It was stocked May 1 with 1,398 rainbow trout. The limit here is two-fish-per-day. 

Streamflow in the Chama River below El Vado Dam was 1,410 cubic-feet-per-second. This is higher than last week and just below normal. It has wild brown trout. It was stocked Oct. 25 with 36,990 one-inch Rio Grande cutthroat trout. The state-record brown trout was caught here. It was stocked May 1 with 428 rainbow trout. 

Above El Vado Lake, streamflow on the Chama River at La Puente was 1,250 cubic-feet-per second. This is higher than last week. It was stocked May 1 with 928 rainbow trout. Above the town of Chama streamflow was measured at 349 cubic-feet-per-second. 

The streamflow in the Brazos River wash measured at 766 cubic-feet-per-second. This is higher than than last week. It was stocked May 1 with 464 rainbow trout. 

The Rio Pueblo near Penasco streamflow was measured at 172 cubic-feet-per-second. This is higher than last week and below normal. It was stocked May 14 with 1,020 rainbow trout. It has wild brown trout.  

The Red River below the Fish Hatchery is flowing at 90.7 cubic-feet-per-second. This is higher than last week and below normal. It was stocked May 9 with 597 rainbow trout.  

The Red River Hatchery Pond is open Fishing is for anglers 11 years of age or younger and 65 years old or older. The limit is now five-fish-per day. It was stocked May 16 with 340 catchable-size rainbow trout.  

Eagle Rock Lake near Questa is open. It was stocked May 16 with 550 rainbow trout.  

The Shuree Ponds on the Valle Vidal are closed until July 1. 

Cabresto Lake, a small, high-elevation lake accessible by four-wheel drive vehicle near Questa, has good fishing for wild brook trout and wild cutthroat trout. It has some open water.